Rock Island daily Argus., 1887-02-12
Vel, The hunts begun at ldst.
The women listened.

'ttty btc fsu"t OcyuH us tuSss
The women listened.
They heard the ceaseless patter and swish
of the gloomp rain-the gusty sighs of the
wind through the shade trees naked branches
louder still the rolling of heavy wheels
over the rough streets; and all these were
torn and rent by the shrieks of men in agony
Poor fellows" said Rachel, chow they are
suffering
Think ruther," seid Aunt Debby calmly,
"of how they've made others suffer. Hits
Gods Judgment on EN-"
Rachel turned to Fortner What will
come next? VIII this end it! viii tho Con-
federates fall back and leave this placer
Hardly This 5 on'y like the fulst slap in
the face i'll a fight atween two big savage
men, who We locked horns ter see which is
the best man. Hit S on'y sorter imbelin'
tie jnts fur the death rassel'
'Yes; and what neXt!7
well, Rosy's started fur this ere place,
an he's bound ter come heah. Bragg's bound
he sha'nt come heah, an is gittin' his men
back to defend the town
What am What are we to do in the
meanwmlel'
"Ye're ter do nothin', ony stay in the house
ca tlcSt % Nt NIL, an nutt tcll tue CIldllte
comes ter use We Hit may be ter-morrer, an
hit maynt be fur some days These army
moves are monty ursartin. Aunt Debby IL
take keer on We, an yen not be in mite o
danger
But well see You frequentlvln
"Ez often ez l kin arrange hit I'm actin
ez orderly an messenger bout headquarters,
but I'll come ter We whenever 1 kin git a
chance, an keep ye posted
This was Friday night. All day Saturday,
aa long as the light lasted, Rachel stood at the
window and watched with sinking heart the
steady inflow of the Confederates from the
north. That night she and Aunt Debby
waited till midnight for Fortner, but he did
not come. All day Sunday she stood at her
post and watched the unahated pouring in on
the Nashville pike. Fortner did not come
that night. She was dowcast, but no shade
disturbed the serenity of Aunt Debbv's sweet
hymning SO it was again on Monday and
Tuesday. The continually swarming multi
tudes weighed down her spirits like mill
stone She seemed to be Cncompassed by
millions Of armed enemies. They appeared
more plentiful than the trees, or the rocks, or
the leaves even. They filed the streets of the
httit Town uIlttt II StcilitSl illEtNSiDlt IOT
another one TO find standing room. Their
cavalry blackened the faces of the long
ranges of hills. Their artillery and wagons
strcamed along the roads in never ending
train. Their camp fires lighted up the coun-
try at night for riilcs in all directions
Just at dusk Tuesday night Fortner came
IN and was warmly welcomed
There are such countless hosts of the Con-
federat,s.' Rachel said 10 him after tho first
greetings were over. that quite despair of
our men being able to do ANYTHING with
them. 1t seems impossible that there can be
gathered together anywhere else in the world
as many men as they have
4 don't wonder ye think so, but eff ycd
been whar l wuz to-day yed think thet GIl
the world WIZ lnarchin' round in blue uni
forms. Over Lcah hit seems ez cf all the ce-
dars on tn" hills had suddintly turned into
Confederate soldiers. Three miles from hcch
the hluecoats are swarmin' thicker'n bees III
field o buckwhcat"
Three miles from here: Is onr army
within three Elilcs Of here
"Hit sartiuly Is, an the Lord 1wfullcst
siyri o men an guns an bosses that ever
tromped down the grass o this ere airth
Why, hit jest dazed my eyes ter look at EN-.
Come ter this other winder Dye see thct
iurtherest line o camp fires. way on yander
hill: Well. them's Union. Eff We could see
fur enuf yed see they're bout five miles long,
an they look purifier the stars in heaven"
But they are so close the battle will be-
gin Immediately will it not.7
Hit amt likely ter be put off very LONG
but thar's no tellin what'll happen in war. or
when
When is my time TO come"
"Thets what I've come fur ter tell We Eff
were arwine ter be of sarvice ter the guv'-
lnent, we must 10 hit tonight, fur most like
" the hattlcll begin in the mornin'. Hits
not Jest the way intended ter make use Of
ye, hut hit can't be helped now. hev in
formation thet must reach Gineral Rosen-
Grams afore dayhreak. The vict'ry may de-
pend on hit Ter make sure all on us must
start with bit, fur gittin' through the lines is
now monty dangefsome, an somebody
meh5e seveIel-is bound ID git cotcht, mebbe
wuas. The men [ expected Ter help me ure
al! gone | haint nobody now but We an
Aunt Dehby. Dye dar and try an make yer
way through tbt lines tonight"
Rachel .-'.g minute upon the dread.
iul pos -. So. ot the renture. and then
replied i,c.l..,
Yes :.srs viii try anything that the
res: of you =, attempt
Good knowei ye'd telk ,het-a-way.
Now we must waste 10 time in gittin'
started, fur God on'y knows what diffkilties
wen meet ON the way. an Rosencrans can't
hev the information emmy loo soon. Evty
minute hits KEEP away from himIl cost many
yailerable lives-mebbe help d0teat the
army"
Tell me quickly, then, what / must do,
that may lose no time in undertaking it.
well heah's plan Of the position at sun
down OF the Confederates Hits drawed out
moughty roughly, but hitll show jest whar
they all are. an about the number there is at
each place. Hit begins or the right which is
south of Stone river, with Breckinridge's
men: then across the river is Withers, an
Cheatham, an Cleburne, with McCown's
division on the left an Wharton's cavalry
Oh the flank. But the thing o. most import
ance is thet all day long they've been movin'
men round ter ther left, ter fall on our right
an crush hit. They're bid in the cedar
thickets over thar, an they'll come out to-
morrow mornin like a million yellin' devils,
an try to sweep our right wing often the
face o. the arth. Dye understand what I've
tole vel7
yes. Breckenridge's division is on their
right and south of Stone river. Withers,
Cheatham and Cleburne come next, on the
north of the river, with McCown's division
and Whartons cavalry OH the left, as shown
in the sketch, and they are moving heavy
| forces around to their left, with the evident
| intention of falling overwhelmingly on our
| right early in the morning"
"Thet's hit. Thets hit. But lay all the
stress We kin on the movin' around ter ther
| left Thar's mo- mischief in thet than all the
rest. Say tibet thar's 20, 600 men gwine round
thar this AFTERNOON an evenin' Say thet
thar's the biggest thundercloud O danger that
emmy one ever seed. Say hit over an over,
| tell everybody understands hit an gifts ready
ter meet hit Tell hit till ye've made ev'ry
| one on 'em understand tibet thar can't be no